The New England Press Association (NEPA) annual newspaper contest has always been good to us. This year, they threw us a curve when they merged our usual "alternative" class with the much larger (and therefore more competitive) "weekly" divisions. We nevertheless prevailed.

Of very special note, Phoenix investigative reporter DAVID S. BERNSTEIN was named Journalist of the Year — a wholly appropriate choice considering that he also landed the first-place plaques for Investigative Journalism and Serious Columnist. The investigative honor was given for "Framed," David's exhaustive February 8, 2008, look into police misconduct and the wrongful conviction of Stephan Cowans for a non-fatal shooting of a police officer. Based on four years of research, the piece exposed not only law-enforcement errors and omissions, but the probable use of forged evidence.

In addition to his fine investigative work, Bernstein has been an outstanding regular political columnist, covering everything from Mayor Menino's enemies list to Mitt Romney's bungled presidential campaign.

The Boston Phoenix editorial and online departments shared the glory for a July 4, 2008, special project, "50 STATES/50 BANDS," which chose the top-ranked musical acts — established, solo, and breaking — from each of the United States. The piece was built on input from staff and freelancers and written primarily by music editor Michael Brodeur, Web editor Carly Carioli, and Phoenix editor Lance Gould. For this, the editorial side brought home a third-place certificate for Arts & Entertainment Reporting, while the combined online and editorial departments garnered a first-place win in the Convergence category for the joint-effort online amplification of the piece.

But wait; there's more.

Other first-place finishers for the Phoenix Media/Communications Group (PM/CG) this year include, in the Reporting on Religious Issues category, JAMES PARKER's feature on BU assistant professor Donna Freitas's study of Philip (The Golden Compass) Pullman's fantasy novels, "Mutiny in Heaven"; and, for General News Story, Portland Phoenix contributor RICK WORMWOOD's "Who Killed Edward Okeny?", an investigation of the still-unsolved death of a 26-year-old member of Portland's Sudanese community.

PM/CG's newest family member, the Spanish-language weekly El Planeta, carried off a first prize for its Advertising Supplement, Salud y Familia (Health and Family).

Civil-liberties attorney and Phoenix contributor HARVEY SILVERGLATE landed a third place in the Serious Columnist category, for his "Freedom Watch" looks at First Amendment justice issues. Barely-out-of-BU freelancer JONATHAN SEITZ placed third in the Sports Reporting category for his "Judgment Night for Doomsday" (June 27, 2008) profile of Roxbury-born MMA fighter John Howard. Freelance illustrator JONATHAN BARTLETT won third place for Illustration for his July 18 rendering of the Joker from The Dark Knight. And finally, in a surprise win (we'd forgotten we'd entered), the PORTLAND PHOENIX DESIGNERS received third-place honors for producing the best Local Black & White Ad.

In all, that's 17 wins for our team. Congratulations everyone who won — and everyone who enabled them.

Bush’s real motive President George W. Bush’s persistent support of the National Security Agency’s warrantless eavesdropping program — the insidious surveillance system first disclosed by the New York Times on December 16 — represents much more than a stubborn presidential effort to catch terrorists.

You're all guilty! Silverglate's thesis is as provocative as it is simple: justice has become sufficiently perverted in this nation that federal prosecutors, if they put their minds to it, could find a way to indict almost any one of us for almost anything. It is a truly radical notion.

Injustice department Thank you Harvey Silverglate for shining a light on our criminal-injustice system with your new book Three Felonies a Day. And thank you Peter Kadzis for a great interview.

Bully pulpit While I understand, appreciate, and respect the First Amendment and our right to speak freely, in the case of bullying, Harvey Silverglate makes a dangerous assumption that “civilized people, even teenagers can intuit the difference between protected speech and criminal harassment.”

Turning on Turner I was grooving on your January 28 issue, including the Student Survival Guide , until I got to " 50 Concerts To See Before Finals Week ."

Media activists aim to take over the future ... of news Now imagine you're in charge of getting people excited about media reform — promoting things like local ownership of press outlets, a free and open Internet, and vibrant public journalism that operates outside of party politics. Besides the considerable outreach, education, and advocacy work in store, you've got to deal with the fact that many people just don't like the media.

BLO does Britten's Midsummer Night's Dream After last season's The Turn of the Screw, Boston Lyric Opera has returned to Benjamin Britten with A Midsummer Night's Dream, an adaptation of Shakespeare (at the Shubert Theatre through May 10).

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